After explaining my plan to Tsubaki, the next step was naturally to speak with the representatives of the races that would be involved in the project personally. The March, the Metong, and the Demons would all be great at handling technological ships, like James had said. However, I wanted some magic experts, as well.
Thankfully, the leader of the kitsune was easy for me to speak with, and I knew that she would be more than happy to create a fleet like this. So long as we were willing to include a few of her own ideas, that is… Which left me thinking about other races that I would need to include.
The elves seemed to be a rather obvious choice, as their patron deity was the Goddess of Magic herself. Similarly, the craftsmanship of the dwarves was without question. But, that made me realize an entirely new problem.
The plans that James and I had created relied on the fact that the invaders appeared within one of the systems sharing Earth’s natural laws. If, however, they appeared in Lorek or Spica, those plans would suddenly become invalid.
I quickly sent another message out to Tsubaki, asking her to see if they could make reality gems with Lorek’s array system. Fundamentally, it was similar to the geometric system of Earth, but it held enough differences that the two were not compatible with one another. And given that the reality gems are the core of my plan for these ships, I needed results.
Because of this, I moved the kitsune over to the tech branch of ships, and planned to have the elves and dwarves handling the magic branch. That way, the magic branch of ships could be designed for activity in Lorek and Spica, while the others were suited for any other world.
Now that I had my plan, I prepared to descend once again, and go meet these representatives one by one.
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The High Mother sat at a small table, eyes looking to the spot where the Keeper had just departed from. Her hands were crossed in her lap, thinking about the topic that they had just discussed. She was both alarmed and intrigued, hearing about the eventual threat that would plague them.
Of course, the main object of her focus was in how the Keeper planned to deal with the threat. He had been… less than specific on the exact energy source, wanting to keep its production method to himself. “Orbs capable of producing unlimited amounts of energy…” The High Mother muttered to herself, running through several simulations.
Assuming that the words of the Keeper could be trusted, the matter of energy consumption would not be a problem. What they needed to do was instead find an efficient means of harnessing the energy. Specifically, they had been asked to work on the propulsion system, as the Metong were far ahead of the other races when it came to long distance transportation.
Humming lightly to herself, the High Mother rose from her seat, allowing it to melt back into the floor along with the table. Then, she turned and walked towards a nearby wall. “Give me a private console with Network access, please.” She said with a smile, addressing the low-level intelligence that controlled the facility.
In response to her request, the wall in front of her liquified, a terminal slowly jutting out of it to appear in front of her. Once it had fully solidified, she reached her hands out to place on its surface. “New research project, priority one in the fields of propulsion and energy control.”
Her hands directly connected to the console, allowing the information to be entered as quickly as she thought of it. “Assuming that there is an endless supply of power fueling the device, design a propulsion system for an Interstellar-class warship. The design will be rated based on fuel efficiency, mobility, and maximum warp distance. The teams with the three highest ratings will each receive a Level Five research permit.”
As soon as she finished, the message was sent out, broadcast throughout the Network. Across thousands of star systems, the personal terminals of every researcher pursuing the related fields lit up. As they checked the message, they were surprised both by its content and the promised reward.
Abundant energy was not hard to come by. Many Metong ships currently were powered by highly refining ambient mana released from their crew members, supplemented by solar energy. However, limitless energy was an entirely different story. No matter what, the engineers always had to plan with a limit in mind.
Because of that, many researchers would have normally written this off as a hoax, if not for the sender being the High Mother herself. Furthermore, the level of reward she was offering was by no means low.
The Network rewarded researchers for their contributions in the form of permits. These permits could be exchanged for resources, manpower, or even unlocking classified information. In a way, it was a form of currency that the researchers were able to take advantage of.
These permits existed in five types, classified as five levels of permits. While a Level One permit was enough to exchange for a decent lab, or to hire an assistant for a year, a Level Five permit could do so much more. Top of the line equipment, priority access to limited materials, and a large research team were only some of the options for what they would be able to receive.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The fact that the High Mother was handing out three such permits for one project showed just how highly she valued this research. Thus, anyone with a connection to the field wanted to at least give a preliminary design. If they managed to hit a stroke of luck, then they would have nothing to worry about for years to come.
As for those research teams more closely related to the subject… it immediately became a priority project.
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“You really stirred things up, huh?” Udona asked, the two of us sitting at the dining table of the Admin Room. Looking at the playful grin on her face, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Not only the metong, even the March golems and the demons were treating it as a high-priority event. In order to distribute the tasks in the first stage, I split the four main systems of the ship among them. The metong were in charge of propulsion systems, the March golems were in charge of shields, and the demons were in charge of life support.
“So, what job do you want to leave to me?” Udona had a knowing tone to her voice, realizing that I would have only called her here to meet like this if I had a portion of the project in mind for her as well.
And she wasn’t wrong, my answer coming as I flashed her my own playful grin. “Weapons. Deckan is in charge of preparing the offensive methods of the starship. You’re free to use whatever tactics you want, whether they are giant robots, laser cannons, or fighter drones.”
Udona blinked in surprise, before excitement began to light up her face. “Really? It won’t cause a problem with the other groups even if I go a bit crazy?”
I let out a light laugh, shaking my head. “Not how I’ve got it planned out, I hope. Right now, I’m assigning everyone a specific task. The goal is to get the fundamental systems planned out before bringing these groups together. That’s when you all will start working together to improve each other’s designs and integrate them into a single ship.”
Udona nodded, her golden ears wobbling from the movement. “You already gave James his own job, so I can’t use him for this… but I have other teams specialized for things like this.”
That admission brought me at least a little relief, and I sighed while closing my eyes. “Good. Remember the scale of power we’re dealing with. We need to be able to fight against a fleet that can casually destroy planets. I don’t mind you adding a personal aesthetic to the design, just make sure that it meets that standard.”
The kitsune goddess paused briefly, a pout forming on her lips. “So turning the ship into a giant robot is probably out of the question, isn’t it…?”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, knowing that she wasn’t entirely serious. “Yes, yes it is. Unless the giant robot also has a weapon that can reach that level of power. I’ve got Tsubaki mass-producing the reality gems now, every type except natural energy. So if you want any ki or spirit-based attacks as part of your plan, it’s all fair game.”
“Got it.” Udona nodded, a serious look on her face. “Honestly, I liked the idea you mentioned to James, using cards for the ship’s weapons. We could prepare a large number of spells for a variety of attack types, but they’d all need to have the ability to fire far enough to be useful in a battle of that scale.”
Seeing that Udona was already thinking about the problem, I gave a small smile. There were few people who knew the capabilities of Deckan’s magic system better than Udona, as she had studied it from the very beginning. So now that I had her on the job, and she had the people under her as well, I was certain that the results would exceed my expectations.
“Before you go off to whatever it is you have to do next…” Udona looked up at me, stopping me just as I was about to get up. “There are some other systems for the ship that need to be discussed, so we know who will be handling what.”
I blinked, thinking it over before answering. “You mean communications, scanning, and things like that, right?”
“That’s right. While the major systems are covered, there are a number of smaller systems that need to be planned out. Aside from the two you said, we’d also need to determine if the ship will have a cloaking system, interference for enemy scanners, or things like that.”
I gave it a brief thought, before shaking my head. “That can all be determined when everyone comes together. Those systems are part of the finer details, so it would be better to have everyone work on them than to only give the job to one group.”
Although Udona seemed hesitant, she did nod her head in agreement. I could just see her imagining a giant ship with a planet-busting cannon, able to jump in and out of stealth at will. Or a fleet of smaller ships with precision layers able to penetrate into a planet’s crust.
However, those designs would change drastically based on whatever the other three teams came up with. If the propulsion and shields systems were too large to place in a small craft, then she would have to go with something bigger. Meanwhile, larger ships had a harder time when it came to things like stealth.
Standing up, I reached over to pat her shoulder. I knew that it would be fine, as long as I left it to her. What I needed to worry about was whether or not James would need me to purchase any new technologies to get the bases fully operational.
Hopefully, there wasn’t too much that was needed to get them off the ground. I had been saving those bases for quite a while, unsure how I should handle them. And now that I was dealing with an enemy that had a knack for drawing on the void, I felt that it was time to fight fire with a hopefully bigger fire.
Shaking my head, I turned and began to walk back to the living room, seeing Aurivy on the couch with Keliope. When I approached, I found that the two of them were actually reading books together. Which, I had to admit, surprised me. Keliope didn’t exactly seem like the type to be too interested in reading.
Of course, when I got a better angle, and was able to see over their shoulders… I found that their ‘books’ were more of the comic variety. I was no longer as surprised to see the two of them so engrossed in their ‘reading’.